Attack & Release, says KCRA-Sacramento, marks "a new musical paradigm for The Black Keys." The band is "now reborn and under a sign that bodes them well." And by year's end, it "shouldn't be a surprise to see the record wind up on many critics best-of lists." Metro Toronto gives the album four stars, calling the Black Keys / Danger Mouse pairing "a synergy that is so good." The Tampa Tribune exclaims that the band has unlocked a "grimy blues treasure trove" with the album.

The Brad Mehldau Trio's performance of Oasis's signature song, "Wonderwall," from the Trio's recent two-disc Nonesuch release, Live, is the latest add to the Stereogum "Gum Mix." You can listen to the track in the Mix and download it from stereogum.com/mp3.

Congratulations to The Black Keys on the debut of their latest album, Attack & Release, at No. 14 on the Billboard album chart, marking a career high for the band. Detroit's Metro Times says the songs on the album "boast the intimate homegrown shagginess of The Black Keys' previous releases, but with numerous nuanced musical and production shimmers winningly integrated by producer Danger Mouse," blending "an epic quality with a timeless immediacy, making it lush, visual and 'soundtrack-y' in the best David Lynch or Quentin Tarantino sense."

The Brad Mehldau Trio is in St. Louis this week for a four-night residency at Jazz at the Bistro starting tonight. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Brad's latest album, the two-cd Live recording from the trio, is "clearly among his best." The Post-Dispatch calls the new collection "a beautifully realized album, by turns lyrical and rambunctious ... As a jazz artist, Mehldau has few peers."